Hair set protector

ABSTRACT

A hair set protector with a foundation made of tinelike fingers which conformably fit the base and rear of the wearer&#39;&#39;s skull. A protective covering surface is held in place by attaching it to the foundation by a plurality of structural support members. The hair set itself is held in place by the structural support members.

- United States Patent (5 6] References Cited UNITEDSTATESPATENTS [72] Inventor MabelS.Curtis WWO H n mmm nfln arn yoa RCE 1 39 356 999 111 Ill 865 904 0000 926 44 D3 23 3 9 $22 SJWM 4 u 93A] 0 d N w L n wm fla AFP HUr J 224 [ll Primary Examiner-F. Barry Shay Assistant Examiner-Gregory E. McNeil] Attorney-Norman E. Reitz ctural support members. The hair set itseflf is held in place by the structural support members.

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ATTORN EY PATENTEB JUH29 I97! SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTRESS MABEL S. CURTIS ATTORNEY IIAIR SET PROTECTOR This invention relates to the protection of human hair or of a hairpiece that has been set in place against being mashed or against falling out of place while the wearer reclines, sleeps or engages in physical activity.

The primary object of this invention is to provide external protection and structural support for human hair or a hair piece that has been set up on a persons head so that the hair or hairpiece does not get crushed by contact with a bed, pillow, blanket or other object and does not fall out of place by the action of gravity or by the normal tossing and turning that occurs during periods of sleep or during conjugal activity.

A further object of this invention is the protection of hair or a hairpiece from becoming dishevelled during periods of physical activity such as hiking, playing tennis and the like, or from being disturbed under inclement weather conditions or from being soiled by undesirable substances.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a hair set protector for human hair or a hairpicce that has been set up on top of a persons head which can easily and conveniently be placed on the head of the wearer and which can readily be removed therefrom without disturbing the hair set.

It is a cultural phenomenon that many persons, especially women, desire to wear their hair in a fixed fashion on top of their heads. Such persons go to great lengths to obtain perfect hairdos. They visit beauty parlors with regularity and they set up their own hair with home permanent kits. They purchase wigs or falls and fix them in a high fashion style on top of their heads. Once the hair is set up in an acceptable fashion the wearer will take great pains to see that the shape and condition of the hair set is maintained for as long as possible. Women have even been known to tolerate great personal discomfort in order to maintain the shape and condition of their hair set.

The hair set is highly vulnerable to being mashed or to falling out of place while the wearer is engaged in a vigorous activity, while the wearer reclines against a chair or pillow or while the wearer is asleep. It is during these periods that hair set needs protection and it is an object of this invention to provide protection during these periods. Various types of protection other than the present invention have been known, used and tolerated in the past. For example, women have wrapped towels around hair sets to provide a crude form of protection; some women have wrapped rolls of toilet tissue around the hair set to provide protection; and other women have tried to sleep in an upright position in a chair in order to preserve their hair set when an especially important event was expected to transpire the next day. None of these techniques have pro vided adequate protection and most have been uncomfortable to practice. The present invention has the advantage over these techniques in that it provides effective protection with a minimum of discomfort to the user. Also, it provides a degree of protection never before available. Housewives can maintain high fashion hair sets and still accomplish household chores; women generally will need to set up their hair less often.

The present invention can serve as a hair set protector in additional situations. Suppose, for example, a woman wearing a hair set wanted to paint a room. By wearing the hair set protector paint spills or spattering would be protected against. In inclement weather the hair set protector could serve as an effective rain hat and as a shield from the wind. In the above situations the protective covering surface could be inexpensively constructed so that it could be disposed of after it was ruined. Also, women that ride in sports cars or on motorcycles can protect their hair sets from the rushing wind.

The present invention comprises a foundation made up ofa number oftinelike fingers which are molded to fit the base and rear of the wearer's skull. The function of the foundation is to slip under the hair set and grip firmly the skull. A protective covering surface is then placed around the outside of at least a portion of the hair set. This protective covering surface is connected with the foundation by rigid structural support members. These support members serve two functions. First, they hold the protective covering surface in place and second, they provide structural support for the hair set so it does not easily get pushed out of shape. Enough tinelike fingers are used and each finger is wide enough so that the pressure transmitted to the skull when the wearer reclines is evenly distributed and causes no discomfort to the wearer.

The above listed objects and variations of the present invention are illustrative only and other features, advantages and objects of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description of the drawings which form a part of this specification. In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a side view of the hair set protector in place upon the wearers head; FIG. 1a is a cross-sectional view of one of the tinelike fingers making up the foundation element, a possible form of a structural member which is connectably disconnectable with said tinelike finger, and a portion of an embodiment of the protective covering means; FIG. lb is a frontal view of a portion of the inside of a particular protective covering means with the structural support members depicted as an integral part of the protective covering means; FIG. 2 is a view of the foundation portion of the hair set protector in place upon the base and rear of the wearers skull; FIG. 3 is a frontal view of the hair set protector in place upon the wearer's head.

In FIG. 1, tinelike fingers 2, 3 and 4 are shaped to conform to the base and rear of the wearers skull and collectively cover sufficient area at the rear of the skull to distribute the pressure created by the weight of the head in a reclining position so the wearer may comfortably recline. All tinelike fingers meet at the base of the wearers skull and are connected together in molded base 31. Tinelike finger 4, in a preferred embodiment extends from the base of the skull in an arcuate manner over the skull to the forehead of the wearer; by conforming to the curvature of the skull it enhances the stability of the foundation means. In other embodiments tinelike finger 4 extends half or two-thirds the distance from the base of the wearers skull to the wearers forehead. Outer tinelike finger 2 in the preferred embodiment extends over the ear of the wearer to the temple; in other embodiments it may extend to a point above or behind the wearers ear. Again, by conforming to the skull of the wearer the tinelike finger 2 enhances the stability of the foundation. means. In the preferred embodiment the foundation means is connected at molded base 25 with a protective covering means 7 which is formed to fit around the outside of the hair set of the wearer. The protective covering means can completely cover the hair and can be made out of rigid plastic; or it can cover only a portion of the hair and can be made out of deformable materials. Rigid materials are preferable for reclining or sleeping while a deformable material is preferable for use during physical activity due to the relative inertial properties. While protective covering means 7 may be connectably disconnectable with the foundation means at molded base 31 by means of snap fasteners 12 it can also be extruded as one unit with the foundation means.

Structural support members 1 in FIG. I serve to keep the hair from becoming displaced. In one embodiment of the invention structural support members are used throughout the mass of the hair set and connectably disconnect with tinelike fingers which extend over the top of the wearer's skull. This embodiment is indicated by phantom support members 17 in FIG. I. It is further desirable, especially when the hair set pro tector is used as a nighttime protector, to utilize a protective covering means with openings over its surface, such as phantom openings 23 in FIG. 1. These openings permit circulation of air through the hair and scalp and allow the protective covering means to be easily donned and removed.

FIG. la illustrates one embodiment of a structural support member which is connectably disconnectable with a tinelike finger of the foundational element. Structural support member I is shown to have a tip 26 which is slightly larger than the opening of groove 20 in tinelike finger 4. Either structural support member 1 or tinelike finger 4 or both is constructed of a compressible material so that tip 26 of structural support member 1 can be forced into groove 20 with the application of pressure by the wearer. Structural support member 1 will remain attached to tinelike finger 4 unless and until a pressure equal to that utilized to force it into place is applied to remove it. Individual structural support members are forced into place one by one thereby adding to the overall pressure that would be required to remove the protective covering means in a single jerk. Thus, once the protective covering means is in place, the hair set protector is quite stable and can only be removed by disconnecting the structural support members from the tinelike fingers one by one. Removal of the hair set protector thus must be done deliberately even though it can be accomplished rapidly and with ease.

In FIG. lb structural support members ll, 10, 1, 9 and 8 are shown to be of unitary construction with protective covering means 7. Each structural support member has a tip 26 adapted, as described above, to be connectably disconnectable with the tinelike fingers of the foundational element. In one embodiment of my invention protective covering means 7 itself is connectably disconnectable with the foundational element at molded base 31, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this embodiment snap fasteners 12 of FIG. lb engage with their counterparts on molded base 31 as shown in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 2 the plurality of tinelike fingers 2, 3, 4, and 6 are shown to be constructed with grooves 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, respectively. These grooves are all shaped like groove 20,

shown in detail in FIG. la, to accommodate, in a connectably disconnectable manner, rigid structural support members like support element 1 shown in FIG. la. The rigid structural support members 11, 10, l, 9 and 8, shown in FIG. lb are positioned on protective covering means 7 so as to be directly opposite grooves 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, respectively, when pr0- tective covering means 7 is snapped onto molded base 25 of the foundation means and when the protective covering means 7 is brought to rest around the hair set of the wearer. Enough structural support members are used so that the pressure from the weight of the head in a reclining position is evenly distributed over the tinelike fingers. Also, the tinelike fingers are wide enough so that the pressure is distributed uniformly and widely over the base and rear of the wearer's skull.

In FIG. 3 elastic coverlet 24 is attached to the edge 27 of protective covering means 7 and stretches over the front of the wearers hair to the forehead where elastic band 25 fits against the forehead and across its breadth. In the preferred embodiment elastic coverlet 24 is connectably disconnectable with tinelike fingers 2, 4 and 6, by means of snap fasteners 14, 15 and 16, respectively. Elastic coverlet 24 is held in place by being so fastened and tinelike fingers 14, 15 and 16 are likewise constrained from sliding along the wearer's scalp. By tying cloth strips 13 together around the neck of the wearer molded base 31 is prevented from being pulled away from the base of the wearers skull and additional stability is obtained.

While certain specific forms and preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown in the drawings and described in the specification it is understood that they may be modified to obtain alternative embodiments as deemed desirable within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hair set protector for protecting the hair or hair set of the wearer while the wearer reclines, sleeps or engages in physical activity, comprising;

a. a foundation means comprising a plurality of spaced apart tinelike fingers which conformably fit the base and rear of the wearers skull, said tinelike fingers being connected at one end to said foundation means where said foundation means rests against the base of wearers skull;

b. protective covering means connected to said foundation means to encompass at least a portion of the hair or hair set of the wearer; and 4 c. structural support members which penetrate the hair or hair set of the wearer and connect said foundation means with said protective covering means, said structural support members being connectably disconnectable with said tinelike fingers of said foundation means.

2. The hair set protector of claim 1 wherein atleast one of said tinelike fingers extends in an arcuate manner, conformably fitting the curvature of the wearers skull, from the point at which said foundation means rests against the base of the wearer's skull over the central portion of the wearers skull and wherein one tinelike finger extends along the side of the wearer's skull, conformably fitting the skull, over each ear of the wearer from the point at which said foundation means rests against the base of the wearers skull towards the temple of the wearer.

3. The hair set protector of claim 2 wherein said protective covering means is permanently affixed to said foundation means at the point at which said foundation means rests against the base of the wearers skull.

4. The hair set protector of claim 2 wherein said protective covering means is connectably disconnectable to said foundation means at the point at which said foundation means rests against the base of the wearers skull. 

1. A hair set protector for protecting the hair or hair set of the wearer while the wearer reclines, sleeps or engages in physical activity, comprising; a. a foundation means comprising a plurality of spaced apart tinelike fingers which conformably fit the base and rear of the wearer''s skull, said tinelike fingers being connected at one end to said foundation means where said foundation means rests against the base of wearer''s skull; b. protective covering means connected to said foundation means to encompass at least a portion of the hair or hair set of the wearer; and c. structural support members which penetrate the hair or hair set of the wearer and connect said foundation means with said protective covering means, said structural support members being connectably disconnectable with said tinelike fingers of said foundation means.
 2. The hair set protector of claim 1 wherein at least one of said tinelike fingers extends in an arcuate manner, conformably fitting the curvature of the wearer''s skull, from the point at which said foundation means rests against the base of the wearer''s skull over the central portion of the wearer''s skull and wherein one tinelike finger extends along the side of the wearer''s skull, conformably fitting the skull, over each ear of the wearer from the point at which said foundation means rests against the base of the wearer''s skull towards the temple of the wearer.
 3. The hair set protector of claim 2 wherein said protective covering means is permanently affixed to said foundation means at the point at which said foundation means rests against the base of the wearer''s skull.
 4. The hair set protector of claim 2 wherein said protective covering means is connectably disconnectable to said foundation means at the point at which said foundation means rests against the base of the wearer''s skull. 